Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Although, I'm still partial to 3-Man. Our version was a little different from the rules at the link. 4+2 was nothing and double-6's made you the Thumb Master. I'd explain but either you know what I'm talking about or aren't inclined to care...oh and I'm 33.

Jeff Jarvis is pissed that the coverage of the Afghanistan election is mostly negative. It is pretty depressing that it has to be spun that way. Does anybody really thing those elections are perfect? That there aren't security concerns? It's fucking A-F-G-H-A-N-I-S-T-A-N. And today (yesterday?) people voted. They've never done that before. Give 'em a break.

...Ugh. The Yankees just went ahead in the 12th on a wild pitch. Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Did ya ever notice how wild pitches and passed balls seem to happen a lot more in crucial post-season moments than during the regular season. Remember '86?

...The ... means a new thought/post within this post. One post for the rest of the night. Just scattershot updates. That's what we're doing here tonight.

...I've been sitting on this photo that I ripped out of the June 18-24, 2003 issue of The Village Voice. Now that the scanner's hooked up I'm sharing it with you. While I hate Mugabe as much as the next guy and feel terrible for the suffering of Zimbabwe, the guy in middle's shirt is priceless.

[Click to Enlarge.]

...Because really, where does a guy from Zimbabwe living in South Africa get a "No Farting" t-shirt?

Saturday, April 10, 2004

As I drank several Guinness last night, I started feeling...healthier. Blackfive has revealed why. According to this study, the good stuff is good stuff.

Guinness, in fact, is lower in alcohol, calories and carbohydrates than Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Heineken and almost every other major-brand beer not classified as light or low-carb. It has fewer calories and carbohydrates than low-fat milk and orange juice, too.

Could this be the same Irish stout that looks like a still-life root beer float and tastes about as filling as a Quarter Pounder with cheese?

[...]

This tastes-great, more-filling formula defies nutritional expectations because Guinness is so low in alcohol, a source of empty calories. Guinness is 4.2% alcohol by volume, the same as Coors Light. Budweiser and Heineken check in at 5%.

Brennan, like many cardiologists, recommends a drink a day for his cardiac patients. Red wine, in particular, has been shown to help prevent heart attacks. Now, maybe it's beer's turn. A University of Wisconsin study last fall found that moderate consumption of Guinness worked like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the risk of heart attacks.

Take, er, drink your vitamins

In the study, Guinness proved twice as effective as Heineken at preventing blood clots. Guinness is loaded with flavonoids, anti-oxidants that give the dark color to many fruits and vegetables.

These anti-oxidants are better than vitamins C and E, the study found, at keeping bad LDL cholesterol from clogging arteries. Blocked arteries also contribute to erectile dysfunction, as does overindulgence in alcohol.

Guinness has a higher concentration than lighter beers of vitamin B, which lowers levels of homocysteine, linked to clogged arteries. And researchers have found that anti-oxidants from the moderate use of stout might reduce the incidence of cataracts by as much as 50%.

In Ireland, where the slogan "Guinness Is Good for You" was born, the stout's medicinal uses are the stuff of legend. Diageo, the U.S. distributor of Guinness, makes no claims about its medical benefits, spokeswoman Beth Davies says from the company's offices in Stamford, Conn.

But a visitor to Ireland might hear accounts (most no longer, if ever, true) of Guinness administered to nursing mothers, blood donors, stomach and intestinal post-operative patients and mothers recovering from childbirth.

I'm gonna get me a covered wagon and hawk Guinness as a magical elixir like an old-timey traveling charlatan. Except, I wouldn't be a charlatan!

Saturday, January 10, 2004

Not that any of the 500+ people who have found this blog searching for "JAA" have actually ventured to read anything here but I'm not going to post tomorrow. While I anticipate my meager Sitemeter to flip the 3K mark by the time I wake up I will make an effort to refrain from posting. And though this may be a self-deception, I do have things I should do. I have a book to read, I have to hang out with the ol' man, there's the football games, and I have dinner plans with the in-laws-to-be.

Unless something really crazy happens like we catch UBL, the Mets sign Vlad, or some kind of unknown unknown becomes known, I will likely be shutting it down tomorrow. At least until late Sunday evening as I have a post 1/2 finished that I need to get out.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Had our annual Christmas dinner for work today at Zum Stammtisch in Glendale, Queens. This is another New York oasis. Drank of a bunch of Hofenweitzer (or something), ate the goulash (which is Top 5 things I've ever eaten), and some sauerbraten. If you're ever in Queens you must hit this place.
*For the record I have no idea who the guy in the laderhosen (sp.?) is.

Monday, December 15, 2003

What a great day. Chrissy had to work today and at around 7:30 am she woke me up. "I normally wouldn't wake you up but...they caught Saddam and they have videotape." (She knows me so well.) I jumped up out of bed, gave her a high-five, ran to the computer and living room TV. I scoured all the usual blogs, Google News, everything. I put up 3 posts with numerous updates, before I had to go to my brother's fiance's surprise 30th birthday party (Happy Birthday, Jo!). It was snowing like crazy and on the way there my brother was vascilating on whether he should cancel. But he decided to go through with it and while only 2/3 of the invitees showed, we had a great time.

Then I got back home and Chrissy watched the History Channel's back to back airing of shows on the hidden codes in the Old Testament and Nostradomus. I blogged my ass off with another 7 posts. No big deal I know, but as a new blogger you have this feeling like "if a blogger falls in woods, would anybody know that his blog existed?"

Then something happened. Somehow, someway, Glen (not Reynolds) at News of the Day linked to my post on Peggy Noonan's column. There it was: Via Fine? Why Fine? I gasped, Chrissy looked up from 500 year old predictions of JFK's assasination and joined me in my jubilation. I posted a comment on Glen's post. This guy just had a baby boy, so I congratulated him and thanked him for being the first person to link to me.

Emboldend, I decided to get aggressive and first posted on The Command Post's caption contest. It was a picture of Saddam with the long hair and he was rubbing his big gray beard. My caption was "Where are those irresponsible sons of mine? I told them to break me out if I was ever captrured." Granted I spelled "captured" wrong and I accidentally posted it twice but it was moderately funny.

I scooped Instapundit last night on this post but my e-mail wasn't working this morning, so I couldn't beg for the "Mother of All Links." I then read a related story and posted a whole new post with the most "original content" so far. I felt good.

Then LGF reposted the same story because Charles felt it got lost in the shuffle with Saddam's capture. I was sweating, I knew I had to do it, I just had to. So I did. I posted in LGF's comments, which if you've never spent time there usually run into the 100s. There are a lot of people there. But I took the leap. I posted (#5) that I had some more info on this story on my blog and left my link. Holy crap! I won't be running out of bandwith anytime soon but it was cool that other people (other than Chrissy, Little Bro, my friend Chris in CO, and Chrissy's Mom) were a least viewing my post. Then I got my first comment. (After ones by Chris in CO and Little Bro last week). And even better it was a challenge. The commenter was talking smack in the LGF comments and now tried to be snarky in mine. The dope didn't read the article I linked to, if he had he would have had an answer to his stupid question.

I realize my little psychological battle of jumping into to blogosphere with both feet is hardly newsworthy on a day like today where our armed forces caught an evil despot in a hole and humiliated him on TV all over the world. But I will say that I'm feeling Fine.